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Help us renovate our old house near Plovdiv, Bulgaria

  • Favourited 88 times
  • Last activity: 18 Mar 2024

Availability

  2024 

 Min stay requested: at least 2 weeks

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Details

  • Description

    Description

    The Ukrainian family we hosted have now found their own place so we are looking for some workaway folk to help us continue with the renovation of our house.

    I am a retired car mechanic from Iceland. My wife and I bought an old house in Bulgaria in 2018 to retire in the sun. My wife is originally from Scotland and has not fully retired yet so she is jumping back and forth from Bulgaria to Iceland. Our 4 grown children and 4 grandchildren currently live in Iceland.


    Both my wife and I speak fluent English and Icelandic, her Icelandic needs improving :) I have a lot of experience with house renovation but my bad health is slowing the process.

    The house needed total renovation. It is now about 2/3rds finished. I've been working on it in between illnesses. I had to retire early due to ill health. So far we have put in new windows, new floors, a new roof and new electricity, 6 rooms are already finished. There is still much to be done in the extension and the garden. Sometimes we are able to get some locals to help but many times I am working alone. I would like the house to be finished this year and so would be very grateful to have someone to help out.

    Pauline is building a platform to help women thrive through their menopause and beyond. She is using Kajabi to host her website and is making an online course. She is also hosting the Menopause Morph Podcast, so any help with such online stuff would be appreciated. Pauline is not a techie and is always looking to learn new tech things from our workaway visitors. One of the workwayers taught her how to use Instagram :)

    There is also a big garden, so if you are interested in doing gardening chores that is possible. We have been working on landscaping the garden but neither of us has much experience with gardening.

    We are quite interested in hosting Bulgarians so that we can learn more of the language :)

    We currently have 1 adult cat and 2 kittens who live in the garden, 2 cockatiel birds who live in the sitting room and 3 doves who live in the garden.

  • Types of help and learning opportunities

    Types of help and learning opportunities

    Language practice
    Gardening
    DIY and building projects
    Creating/ Cooking family meals
    Help around the house
    General Maintenance
    Help with Computers/ Internet
  • Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

    Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

    You can improve your English, and even learn Icelandic :) We live near Plovdiv which was the European city of culture in 2019. Both Plovdiv and Hisaria (Our town of Kaloyanovo is 30 min from Plovdiv and 15 mins from Hisaria) have vast Roman remains and Hisaria has a lot of hot natural spring water, so we try to go to one of the spa's there when we can. You are welcome to come with us to that, we pay :)

    My wife Pauline is an oil painter and one of the rooms upstairs will eventually be her art studio after she has made the video course about menopause. You are welcome to try your hand at painting and if she is here, she will be more than happy to teach you. We are not vegan but have hosted many vegan's in the past. Pauline is in the process of reducing her meat intake and is interested in more vegetarian meals.

  • Help

    Help

    Assisting with building renovation project i.e. laying floor tiles, painting walls, cement cutting, brick laying, fitting shower, kitchen units etc. All these skills can be taught to you. Landscaping the garden, this we are learning ourselves. If you have experience in gardening, perhaps you can teach us :)

    Pauline is working on making an online course to help women thrive through their menopause and beyond. If you have any computer tech skills or marketing or social media skill that would be greatly appreciated :)

  • Languages spoken

    English: Fluent
    Icelandic: Fluent
    Bulgarian: Beginner

  • Accommodation

    Accommodation

    Large room on ground floor of the house. It contains a double bed. So we are open to having a single person or a couple. In the photos you can see the room on the ground floor, the one with a yellow wall. We now have curtains in that room.

  • What else ...

    What else ...

    We will provide all meals (sometimes we go to restaurants) and we currently have 2 vehicles a car and a big van. So it will be possible to borrow one of the vehicles if you wish to travel around Bulgaria on your days off.

  • A little more information

    A little more information

    • Internet access

    • Limited internet access

      Limited internet access

    • We have pets

    • We are smokers

    • Can host families

  • Can host digital nomads

    Can host digital nomads

    We have good WiFi and a desk for working online. We have often had digital nomads with us. We are very flexible for work times.

  • Space for parking camper vans

    Space for parking camper vans

    Any size. You can park in our driveway/garden or out on the street, whichever you wish.

  • Can possibly accept pets

    Can possibly accept pets

    We have cats and we used to accept dogs but it has not turned out well, so I'm sorry no dogs but you can bring your cat if you like. If it is something exotic like a snake, please let us know first :)

  • How many Workawayers can stay?

    How many Workawayers can stay?

    Two

  • ...

    Hours expected

    Maximum 4-5 hours a day, 5 days a week

Host ref number: 344883932943

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